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Possum

Matthew Holness may be best known for the Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace but what he’s offering here is a long way from comedy.

Possum‘s story revolves around a disgraced puppeteer’s return to his hometown, and the emotional (and physical!) baggage he brings with him. It’s not really a story as such, more of a tense psychological episode, as we’re invited to wallow in the fear, guilt and regret of Phillip upon his return.

In many ways it’s low budget horror by the book here – there are no real surprises or breaking with genre here – but that’s no problem: this is a wholehearted deep-dive into horror conventions and comes with all the shocks, suspense and shadows you could hope for.

The actors are superb throughout. Alum Armstrong is spot on in his role as chain smoking, cackling ‘Uncle’ Morris and Sean Harris is a perfect cast. Better still is the sound: the BBC Radiophonic Workshop have really gone to town on the sound effects here and it ramps up the tension dramatically.